PRESS RELEASE
FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DATE: JUNE 20, 2019
The Appellate Division, Third Department has unanimously affirmed judgments of convictions in the following cases:
People v Frederick Smith, a/k/a Freddy P.
Frederick Smith was convicted in the Ulster County Court (Williams, J.) of the crime of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree following a jury trial and was sentenced on March 4, 2016, as a second violent felony offender, to a prison term of 15 years to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision.
Defendant’s conviction stems from a shootout which occurred in a nightclub parking lot in the Town of Lloyd during the early morning hours of January 25, 2014. When police responded, they were informed that the individuals involved had fled the scene in a red vehicle. After a brief chase, the vehicle was stopped and defendant was observed tossing a handgun out of a rear window.
Among the arguments defendant raised on appeal were that the verdict was not supported by legally sufficient evidence and was against the weight of the evidence and that the Court’s Molineux ruling deprived him of a fair trial. Defendant also maintained that he was denied his constitutional and statutory right to a fair trial following the trial court’s substitution of an alternate juror after jury deliberations had commenced and denied his right to be present during in camera questioning of the sworn juror who was replaced. However, the appellate court rejected each of defendant’s claims.
On appeal, the defendant is represented by Theodore J. Stein, Esq. of Woodstock, New York. Assistant District Attorney Paul Derohannesian, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
People v Alfred May
Alfred May was convicted of two counts of driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree following a jury trial. He was later sentenced by County Court Judge Donald A. Williams on February 9, 2016 to concurrent State prison terms of one to three years on each of his convictions.
On appeal to the Appellate Division, Third Department, defendant argued that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his Batson challenge made during jury selection to the only African American on the jury panel during the first round of jury selection. The Appellate Division, Third Department, however, determined that County Court had acted properly given that the prosecution was able to provide a race-neutral explanation for his challenge to that juror.
People v Mark Nugent
Defendant was convicted in the Ulster County Court (Williams, J.) on April 7, 2015 of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree following the entry of his guilty plea.
In 2014, a drug task force obtained information that defendant, a probationer being supervised by Orange County Probation, was actually residing and selling drugs in Ulster County. During a home visit conducted by Ulster County Probation and other task force members, a gun and a quantity of drugs was recovered.
Following his arrest, defendant pled guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree in full satisfaction of the indictment and waived his right to appeal. While County Court agreed to impose a six year State prison term to be followed by two years of postrelease supervision, defendant was warned that the Court could impose a sentence of up to nine years if he was charged with any new offenses before sentencing. When defendant was subsequently arrested and charged with a new offense, while sentencing was pending, County Court found, following a hearing, that he had violated the sentencing warnings and imposed an eight year State prison term with two years of postrelease supervision.
On appeal, the defendant maintained that the gun and the drugs recovered during the search should have been suppressed. However, as the Third Department concluded, by pleading guilty after the suppression hearing but before the decision was rendered, defendant forfeited his right to appellate review of all claims related to that motion.
On appeal, defendant is represented by Theodore J. Stein, Esq. of Woodstock, New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.